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The rightmost judge almost clapped her wrinkled old hands, but stopped herself and folded her arms instead. Fred beamed up at Saure with pride.

"Right, then. Onto the next part of the test." Head Parapheum barked. He jotted furiously with his green quill, the sides of his old cracked mouth drooping comically. Saure did as ordered, observing the three potted plants.

"Common basil, lavender, and skullcap. Many uses for each of these, basil…"

"We know their uses." Head Parapheum interjected. "Using the earth provided, please cause clippings of each to sprout roots and become new plants."
Saure had read about using the clippings of certain plants to grow all new plants, but none of the provided herbs were of this variety.
She now saw a set of small silver shears she hadn't noticed previously, tucked betwixt two of the pots. She took these and snipped a clipping from the basil. She then set down the shears and reached beneath the top tray for the sack of earth. She spread some on the tray, then held up the basil and concentrated on it. This took about two minutes. She felt sharp tips of roots prick from the base of the sprig, and stuck the sprig in the handful of earth. It immediately took root, and slowly sprouted buds at the head of its stem. I'll not lie; few of the Parapheums were surprised at this point.
She repeated this slow process twice more with like results.

"Last part of the test. Before you are two strips of bark. One is fresh, the other rotting. Please summon the mold and fungus from the rotting strip of bark to set upon the fresh strip of bark, and reverse the effects of the rotting on the second strip." Head Parapheum didn't look up as he wrote, and spoke somewhat dismissively. Two of the judges whispered among themselves.

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"This is a simple spell for you, Saure." Fred reassured. Saure smiled at him, then focused her attentions upon the two strips of bark. She opened a hand over the second strip. In a matter of four minutes or so, a stream of spores had issued forth from the rotting strip of bark and collected in a cloud beneath her palm. The second strip still appeared dark and decomposing. You see, while greenhands are able to control spores (which are generally accepted under the earthblood elemental class), it is a much different thing to control true decay. Bacteria and other microorganisms have not yet been discovered in Avarae, but they are of the earthen element all the same. Saure did not possess much experience in this area. She did, however, will the spores onto the first strip of bark, and the mold and fungi spread hungrily on the fresh food. She picked up the second strip and examined it carefully.

Fred's ears perked up, and after a moment he growled low to himself.
"I hear them whispering. The old woman near the left end is saying how this last test is never given to those hoping to graduate their first year. It is, in fact, given to fifth-year students. The head Parapheum set you up to fail."

Saure grimaced slightly, but continued to concentrate. She glanced at him with a hopeless look in her young face, and a teary sheen glassing over her pretty violet eyes.
Fred couldn't stand it. He stood, lashing his tail. Then he made up his mind to take a risk.
Using the privacy the podium provided, Fred set his teeth to Saure's gunna and pulled it to him. He flipped open the leather flap and gingerly pulled out the manifesto's parcel making as little noise as he could. Saure quickly returned her attention to the bark pinched between her fingers. A thread of wary panic etched its way up from her stomach to her sternum.

The small cat managed to unwrap the parcel soundlessly, and was at that moment flipping through pages as slow and as careful as possible with a velvet paw.